Arguments for and against euthanasia

?
View mindmap
  • Euthanasia
    • Arguments for Euthanasia
      • IT IS NOT MURDER: Gregory E Pence - killing humans that don't want to live it not wrong.
      • IT IS MERCIFUL: Thomas More - argued in his famous book that when a patient suffers a "torturing or lingering pain, so that there is no hope" they may choose to die as it it is a merciful option.
      • GIVES PEOPLE AUTONOMY: Mill - if it doesn't affect someone else's, individuals should have full autonomy. It should be an option for a competent adult who is willing to make the decision.
      • JACK KEVORKIAN: Dr Death - photographed the dying eyes of patients. Kevorkian believed that helping people was not enough and killed Thomas Youk with his permission.
    • Issues with Legislation
      • SLIPPERY SLOPE ARGUMENT: Vulnerable people like the elderly or the disabled may feel pressured to request an early death.
      • Practical Implications: the continued treatment of a patient who has no reasonable hope, is it practical to euthanise the patient?
      • HUMAN RIGHTS; THE RIGHT TO DIE: those who are dying have the right to refuse treatment to prolong their life, and the doctor is legally required to respect this.
    • Peter Singer
      • The right to life is essentially tied to a being's capacity to hold preferences and feel pleasure and pain.
      • In favour of voluntary euthanasia, including some forms of non-voluntary.
      • Unless the benefit of the people who love these "non-persons" outweighs the emotional and financial burden to individuals and society keeping them alive, they can be killed.
    • Pope Francis
      • Denounced the right to die, as euthanasia is a sin.
      • Euthanasia is a "false sense of compassion."
      • The Catholic Church opposes euthanasia and assisted suicide, because life starts at conception and should end at natural death.
      • Assisted suicide is "an absurdity."

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Ethics resources:

See all Ethics resources »See all Euthanasia resources »